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2024 North Dakota legislative session
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| 2024 North Dakota legislative session |
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| General information |
| Scheduled session start: No regular legislative session. Scheduled session end: N/A |
| Leadership |
| Senate President Tammy Miller (R) House Speaker |
| Elections |
| Next Election: November 5, 2024 Last Election: November 8, 2022 |
| Previous legislative sessions |
| 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 |
| Other 2024 legislative sessions |
North Dakota held no regular legislative session in 2024.
Leadership in 2024
North Dakota State Senate
- Senate president: Tammy Miller (R)
- Majority leader: David Hogue (R)
- Minority leader: Kathy Hogan (D)
North Dakota House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House: Lawrence Klemin (R)
- Majority leader: Mike Lefor (R)
- Minority leader: Joshua Boschee (D)
Partisan control in 2024
- See also: State government trifectas
North Dakota was one of 23 Republican state government trifectas at the start of 2024. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.
North Dakota was also one of 20 state legislatures where Republicans had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.
The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly as of January 2024.
North Dakota State Senate
| Party | As of January 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 4 | |
| Republican Party | 43 | |
| Total | 47 | |
North Dakota House of Representatives
| Party | As of January 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 12 | |
| Republican Party | 82 | |
| Total | 94 | |
Standing legislative committees
A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.
At the beginning of the 2024 legislative session, there were 26 standing committees in North Dakota's state government, including zero joint legislative committees, 13 state Senate committees, and 13 state House committees.
Joint legislative committees
There are no joint committees of the North Dakota Legislative Assembly.
Senate committees
- Appropriations - Education and Environment Division Committee
- Appropriations - Government Operations Division Committee
- Appropriations - Human Resources Division Committee
- Education Committee
- Finance and Taxation Committee
- Human Services Committee
- Industry and Business Committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Agriculture and Veterans Affairs Committee
- Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- State and Local Government Committee
- Transportation Committee
- Workforce Development Committee
House committees
- Appropriations - Education and Environment Division Committee
- Appropriations - Government Operations Division Committee
- Appropriations - Human Resources Division Committee
- Education Committee
- Finance and Taxation Committee
- Human Services Committee
- Industry, Business and Labor Committee
- Judiciary Committee
- Agriculture Committee
- Government and Veterans Affairs Committee
- Energy and Natural Resources Committee
- Political Subdivisions Committee
- Transportation Committee
Legislatively referred constitutional amendments
In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.
The methods by which the North Dakota Constitution can be amended:
The North Dakota Constitution provides three mechanisms for amending the state's constitution—a citizen-initiated process, a legislative process, and a state constitutional convention. North Dakota requires a simple majority vote (50% plus 1) for voters to approve constitutional amendments.
Initiative
- See also: Initiated constitutional amendment
An initiated constitutional amendment is a citizen-initiated ballot measure that amends a state's constitution. Eighteen (18) states allow citizens to initiate constitutional amendments.
In North Dakota, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 4% of the state's population reported by the last decennial census. Each initiative has its own unique deadline of one year after it was approved to circulate. The completed petition must be submitted at least 120 days prior to the election.
Legislature
A simple majority vote is required during one legislative session for the North Dakota State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 48 votes in the North Dakota House of Representatives and 24 votes in the North Dakota State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
Convention
According to Section 1 of Article III of the North Dakota Constitution, the state's initiative petition process is used to call a constitutional convention.
Historical partisan control
The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of North Dakota.
North Dakota Party Control: 1992-2024
No Democratic trifectas • Thirty-one years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| Senate | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Historical Senate control
Republicans won control of the North Dakota State Senate in 1994. In 2022, they won a 43-4 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the North Dakota Senate following every general election from 1992 to 2022. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
North Dakota State Senate election results: 1992-2022
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 25 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 21 | 21 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 4 |
| Republicans | 24 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 32 | 26 | 26 | 35 | 33 | 32 | 38 | 37 | 40 | 43 |
Historical House control
Republicans won control of the North Dakota House of Representatives in 1984. In 2022, they won an 82-12 majority.
The table below shows the partisan history of the North Dakota House following every general election from 1992 to 2022. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.
North Dakota House of Representatives election results: 1992-2022
| Year | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '06 | '08 | '10 | '12 | '14 | '16 | '18 | '20 | '22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democrats | 33 | 23 | 26 | 34 | 29 | 28 | 26 | 33 | 36 | 25 | 23 | 23 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 12 |
| Republicans | 65 | 75 | 72 | 64 | 69 | 66 | 68 | 61 | 58 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 81 | 79 | 80 | 82 |
See also
| Elections | North Dakota State Government | State Legislatures | State Politics |
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External links
Footnotes
